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Modern Science has discovered that in the places where two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier divides the two seas so that each sea has its own temperature, salinity, and density.[1] For example, Mediterranean sea water is warm, saline, and less dense, compared to Atlantic ocean water. When Mediterranean sea water enters the Atlantic over the Gibraltar sill, it moves several hundred kilometers into the Atlantic at a depth of about 1000 meters with its own warm, saline, and less dense characteristics. The Mediterranean water stabilizes at this depth[2](see figure 1).

…

Although there are large waves, strong currents, and tides in these seas, they do not mix or transgress this barrier.

The Holy Quran mentioned that there is a barrier between two seas that meet and that they do not transgress. God has said:

“He has set free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier between them. They do not transgress.” (Quran 55:19-20)

But when the Quran speaks about the divider between fresh and salt water, it mentions the existence of “a forbidding partition” with the barrier. God has said in the Quran:

“He is the one who has set free the two kinds of water, one sweet and palatable, and the other salty and bitter. And He has made between them a barrier and a forbidding partition.” (Quran 25:53)

One may ask, why did the Quran mention the partition when speaking about the divider between fresh and salt water, but did not mention it when speaking about the divider between the two seas?

Modern science has discovered that in estuaries, where fresh (sweet) and salt water meet, the situation is somewhat different from what is found in places where two seas meet. It has been discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from salt water in estuaries is a “pycnocline zone with a marked density discontinuity separating the two layers.”[3] This partition (zone of separation) has a different salinity from the fresh water and from the salt water[4] (see figure 2)…

This information has been discovered only recently, using advanced equipment to measure temperature, salinity, density, oxygen dissolubility, etc. The human eye cannot see the difference between the two seas that meet, rather the two seas appear to us as one homogeneous sea. Likewise, the human eye cannot see the division of water in estuaries into the three kinds: fresh water, salt water, and the partition (zone of separation).

THE SEAS NOT MINGLING WITH ONE ANOTHER

Ali Sina writes, “Muslims claim that the verses 55:19-20 are proof of the scientific miracle of the Quran

“He has let loose the two seas, converging together, with a barrier between them they do not break through.”

The popular site of Harunyahya claims

“This property of the seas, that is, that they meet and yet do not intermix, has only very recently been discovered by oceanographers. Because of the physical force called “surface tension,” the waters of neighbouring seas do not mix. Caused by the difference in the density of their waters, surface tension prevents them from mingling with one another, just as if a thin wall were between them.

It is interesting that, during a period when there was little knowledge of physics, and of surface tension, or oceanography, this truth was revealed in the Qur’an.”

Then they show the above picture and comment:

“There are large waves, strong currents, and tides in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Mediterranean Sea water enters the Atlantic by Gibraltar. But their temperature, salinity, and densities do not change, because of the barrier that separates them.”

Was the knowledge that waters of different salinity, density and temperature do not mix unknown to anyone prior to Muhammad? Not really. A thousand years before Muhammad Aristotle wrote the following:

“The drinkable, sweet water, then, is light and is all of it drawn up: the salt water is heavy and remains behind,”Meteorology Book 2 Chapter 2

It is clear that at the time of Aristotle, people knew that waters of different density and salinity do not mix.

The following picture is from the red sea. Obviously the sailors navigating in that sea must have noticed the difference of color between the waters.

Also it seems that Muslims do not understand the phenomenon at all. The sill of Gibraltar, the barrier that separates the Atlantic from Mediterranean is not responsible for not letting the two waters to mix. The waters do not mix because of the difference in their density, salinity and temperature.

Furthermore the separation of these waters are not permanent. The waters of various densities, salinities and temperatures eventually mix. The phenomenon is short lived and is observerabe only when the two bodies of water meet. It is like pouring milk in the cup of coffee. At first one can see that milk creates a current inside the coffee but eventually they mix.

Is Muhammad talking about the Waters of Atlantic and Mediterranean sea? No! There is no such mention in the Quran. It could be any two bodies of water. Was this phenomenon unknown to people at the time of Muhammad? No! This is quite an observable phenomenon.Anyone who has seen a delta where rivers carrying colored sediments enter the sea or where two rivers of different colors or two seas meet, can see that for a long distance the two waters keep apart. Muhammad had not been to many seas. But there is no reason to believe that he had not heard of this curious phenomenon from those who had been. The knowledge was known to all seamen and people loved to share the stories of their adventures. Therefore this verse is not a miracle. It is a casual statement of a curious phenomenon that he had heard and was impressed by it but without understanding the physics behind it. He thought it is the work of a deity called Allah that keeps the waters apart.

As the verse 25:53 makes it clear, Muhammad is talking about two seas one with sweet and palatable and the other with salty and bitter water.

“And He it is Who hath given independence to the two seas (though they meet); one palatable, sweet, and the other saltish, bitter; and hath set a bar and a forbidding ban between them.” [Pickthal translation].

The water in both Atlantic and Mediterranean are salty. Therefore this verse does not refer to any two seas but to the waters at estuary where an arm of the sea extends inland to meet the river. In this case there is no “forbidding partitions” between the waters as Muhammad said and they eventually mix. On one side we have the fresh waters of the river running into the sea and on the other side we have the salty water of the sea being pushed away. In between the two we have a mixture of the two waters. The Islamic sites claim this water in between, acts as the barrier. This statement is simply asinine to say the least. The waters eventually keep mixing until all the salt water and sweet water become one. The mixed water between the two waters is not the barrier but the reverse. It is the mixture of the two.

One Muslim insisted that despite the fact that the phenomenon was known, at that time it is still a miracle because Muhammad was illiterate and he could not have known this and he insisted that I prove that Muhammad had heard this from someone.

I find this quite absurd. If I write the theory of relativity and claim this is revealed to me and I never heard of Einstein, it is not up to you to prove I have heard of him. It is up to me to prove I have not.

Here what we did is prove that this knowledge existed prior to Muhammad. People knew that waters of different density do not mix and they could observer it. Despite that Muhammad assumes that the waters never mix. Which is obviously incorrect. De states that there is a barrier between the waters, which is of course untrue. These verses point to Muhammad’s ignorance and they are no miracles at all.”

“In the early 7th century, the two most powerful empires at the time were the Byzantine[1] and Persian Empires. In the years 613 – 614 C.E the two Empires went to war, with the Byzantines suffering a severe defeat at the hands of the Persians. Damascus and Jerusalem both fell to the Persian Empire. In the chapter, The Romans, in the Holy Quran, it is stated that the Byzantines had met with a great defeat but would soon gain victory:

“The Romans have been defeated in the lowest land, but after their defeat they will soon be victorious. Within three to nine years. The decision of the matter, before and after, is with God.” (Quran 30:2-4)

These verses, above, were revealed around 620 C.E, almost 7 years after the severe defeat of the Christian Byzantines at the hands of the idolater Persians in 613 – 614 C.E. Yet it was related in the verses that the Byzantines would shortly be victorious. In-fact, Byzantine had been so heavily defeated that it seemed impossible for the Empire to even maintain its very existence, let alone be victorious again.

Not only the Persians, but also the Avars, Slavs and Lombards (located to the North and West of the Byzantine Empire) posed serious threats to the Byzantine Empire’s sovereignty. The Avars had come as far as the walls of Constantinople and had nearly captured the Emperor, himself. Many governors had revolted against Emperor Heraclius, and the Empire was on the point of collapse. Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Armenia, which had earlier belonged to the Byzantine Empire, were invaded by the Persians. In short, everyone was expecting the Byzantine Empire to be destroyed, but right at that moment the first verses of the chapter, The Romans, were revealed announcing that the Byzantines would regain triumph in a few years time. Shortly after this revelation, the Byzantine Emperor proceeded to order the gold and silver in churches to be melted and turned into money in order both to meet the demanding expenses of the army, and finance his drive to regain the lost territories.

Around 7 years after the revelation of the first verses of The Romans, in December, 627 C.E, a decisive battle between The Byzantine Empire and the Persian Empire was fought in the area around the Dead Sea,[2] and this time it was the Byzantine army which surprisingly defeated the Persians. A few months later, the Persians had to make an agreement with the Byzantines which obliged them to return the territories they had taken from them. So, in the end, the victory of the Romans proclaimed by God in the Quran miraculously came through.

Another miracle revealed in the mentioned verses is the announcement of a geographical fact that no-one would have been able to discover in that period. In the third verse of The Romans, it was mentioned that the Romans were defeated “in the lowest land” (Quran 30:3). Significantly, the places where the main battles took place (in Damascus and Jerusalem) lie in a vast area of low-lying land called the Great Rift Valley. The Great Rift Valley is a huge 5,000 km fault line in the earth’s crust that runs from northern Syria in the Middle-East of Asia to central Mozambique in East Africa. The northernmost extension runs through Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordon. The rift then extends south to the Gulf of Aden, makes its way through East Africa, then finally ends at the lower Zambezi River valley in Mozambique.

An interesting fact that has been discovered recently, with the help of satellite images, is that the area around the Dead Sea (located in the Great Rift Valley) has the lowest altitude on Earth. In fact, the lowest point on Earth is the shoreline of the Dead Sea, with an altitude of around 400 meters[3] below sea level. The fact that it lies at the lowest point means that water does not drain from the sea. No land point on earth has a lower altitude than the shoreline of the Dead Sea.[4]

Therefore it becomes clear that the country or prefecture which occupies the rift valley in the vicinity of the Dead Sea is what is meant in the Quran by “the lowest land.” This is a true miracle of the Quran because no-one could have known or foreseen such a fact in the 7th century due to the fact that satellites and modern day technology were not available at the time. Once again, the only possible explanation is that Prophet Muhammad had truly received divine revelation from God, The Creator and Originator of the universe.

THE REALITY OF THIS:

1-LOWEST POINT ON EARTH

The verses 30:2 and 30:3 actually read:

30.2
The Roman Empire has been defeated-
30.3
YUSUFALI: In a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious-
PICKTHAL: In the nearer land, and they, after their defeat will be victorious
SHAKIR: In a near land, and they, after being vanquished, shall overcome,

These Muslims claim that the word near أَدْنَى can also be translated as lower and hence the above could be read: The Roman Empire was defeated in the lowest land. Then they claim that since the Dead Sea is it the lowest point on earth (1300 ft bellow sea level) Muhammad said something that no one could have known.

This is of course wishful thinking of deluded believers and the absurdity of that is evident.The Romans were not defeated in the Dead Sea but in Jerusalemand Jerusalem is above sea level. If we had to take this arbitrary translation and disregard the obvious meaning of the word as was understood by all the translators of the Quran, this verse would have become yet another blunder of Muhammad. That would have meant that Romans were defeated in lowest land (which should have then been the Dead Sea, and not Jerusalem!) and it would have been a massive mistake, since Romans were defeated in Jerusalem!

However, all the interpreters of the Quran have translated the verse correctly. See how the person forcibly trying to find a miracle in these verses when none exists has given the meaning of the word as ‘lower’ and then assumed it as ‘lowest’ whereas ALL the authentic translators of the Quran who were devout Muslims themselves like Yusuf Ali, Pichthall and Shakir have used the correct word ‘near land’.

If Muhammad really wanted to impress his followers about his knowledge of geography, he could have easily said that the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth.Simple and clear! This again shows that since no miracle exists in the Quran, and it contains a lot of mistakes, Muslims forcibly try to desperately find miracles, twist meanings and make hoaxes.

Note that the verse is mentioning land and not sea. Let us say, for argument’s sake that through this hidden meaning “Romans were defeated in a land near by” the author of the Quran (God or Muhammad or anyone else) is actually trying to say along with the Romans’ defeat that Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth. Then the word which should have been used in LOWEST POINT not LOWEST LAND since Dead Sea is water not land. But since the word LAND is used, it is clear that Muhammad is talking about Jerusalem, which is a land near to Muhammad’s. Muhammad is talking about Jerusalem and not about the Dead Sea .

2-VICTORY OF ROMANS

The Quran that we have today is compiled during the Caliphate of Othman. Othman started his Caliphate in 644 AD and ruled till AD 656. By that time the two wars between the Persians and the Romans were over and the victors in each case had already been known. What are the chances that the verses 2-4 of Sura 30 that says first the Romans will be defeated and a few years later they will become victorious were altered because the original verses pronounced by Muhammad were wrong? It is well-known and well acknowledged by Muslims themselves that the Quran was compiled during Othman’s rule. Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall’s translation of the Quran says In the translation of the Quran by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, (Pickthall’s translation is considered as very authentic) the following things are mentioned in the “Introduction” before the Quran’s first chapter: “All the surahs of the Koran had been recorded in writing before the Prophet’s death, and many Muslims had committed the whole Koran to memory. But the written surahs were dispersed among the people; and when, in a battle which took place during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr- that is to say, within two years of the Prophet’s death-a large number of those who knew the whole Koran by heart were killed, a collection of the whole Koran was made and put in writing. In the Caliphate of Othman, all existing copies of surahs were called in, and an authoritative version, based on Abu Bakr’s collection and the testimony of those who had the whole Koran by heart, was compiled exactly in the present form and order, which is regarded as traditional and as the arrangement of the Prophet himself, the Caliph Othman and his helpers being Comrades of the Prophet and the most devout students of the Revelation. The Koran has thus been very carefully preserved.” (Page xxviii of Pickthall’s translation of Quran, Madhur Sandesh Sangam, New Delhi, India, 1995) And as we have seen in “Logical proofs” and in “The religion of Islam”, some scholars have shown that the text of the Quran was altered even after 656 AD until at least as late as the middle of the 9th century AD and many feel that it was finalized at last in AD 933.But even if we go as per the accepted Islamic history of the Quran being finalized in AD 656, it is was much after the Romans had been victorious in around 628 AD.

Of course if what Muhammad had said had been wrong, Othman would not have allowed it to be published, which would have shown Muhammad to be a false prophet. These verses would have been adjusted to reflect what had actually happened.

Othman ordered all other versions that did not match his, to be destroyed. Why? It is because they contradicted the one he had put together. As the result the evidence is lost. We can’t prove that Muhammad was wrong and Muslims can’t claim these verses as prophecy. It is absolutely illogical that the compilers would have kept the original verses when the history had proven Muhammad a false prophet.

These verses don’t prove anything because their authenticity is dubious. However, there are many other verses in the Quran that have been proven to be wrong. Consequently, Muslim scholars try to reinterpret them and twist their meanings. If there is one error in the Quran, the book cannot be the word of God. There are thousands of errors in that book. It is quite possible that since the Romans were monotheist Christians fighting idolators, and idolators had defeated them, Muhammad made the above statement just to tell his supporters that the idolators’ victory is a temporary one and ultimately God will defeat idolators and make Romans (who were monotheist Christians) victorious, and it could have been a lucky guess.

Some Christian scholars have also tried to refute this claim. Their rebuttals are worth reading here and here. Just some of the points raised by them are “The Persians defeated the Byzantines (Christian Romans) and captured Jerusalem at about A.D. 614 or 615. The Byzantine counter-offensive did not begin until A.D. 622 and the victory was not

complete until A.D. 628, making it a period between thirteen to fourteen years, not “a few years” alluded to in the Quran. The words used in the Quran limit the number of years to 3 to 9, but it was a good 13 to 14 years after the Romans defeat. But if God could make future predictions unknown to ordinary human beings like Muhammad and demonstrate such knowledge in the Quran to prove that Islam is from Him , then he could have easily revealed some events going to happen every year since AD 622 till the end of life on earth so that all beings living from and after Muhammad’s time would know that Islam is true! He could have written “In AD 622, this will happen, in AD 623, this will happen, etc etc” right until the end of life on earth! He could have easily predicted that man will go the moon in 1969 AD, which was beyond Muhammad’s reach. Instead would he have chosen to say that Romans will be victorious soon which was in AD 628, also during Muhammad’s lifetime! Since there is no proof at all as to when this passage was revealed, or dictated by Muhammad, whether in AD 614-15 (if that is so, then it would also be a mistake as it would mean Romans would be victorious after more than 9 years), or AD 620, or at any time, it is possible that Muhammad himself said this after the victory of Romans was apparent or obvious.

Iron is one of the elements highlighted in the Quran. In the chapter known Al-Hadeed, meaning Iron, we are informed:

“And We also sent down iron in which there lies great force and which has many uses for mankind…” (Quran 57:25)

The word “anzalna,” translated as “sent down” and used for iron in the verse, could be thought of having a metaphorical meaning to explain that iron has been given to benefit people. But, when we take into consideration the literal meaning of the word, which is, “being physically sent down from

the sky, as this word usage had not been employed in the Quran except literally, like the descending of the rain or revelation, we realize that this verse implies a very significant scientific miracle. Because, modern astronomical findings have disclosed that the iron found in our world has come from giant stars in outer space.[1]

Not only the iron on earth, but also the iron in the entire Solar System, comes from outer space, since the temperature in the Sun is inadequate for the formation of iron. The sun has a surface temperature of 6,000 degrees Celsius, and a core temperature of approximately 20 million degrees. Iron can only be produced in much larger stars than the Sun, where the temperature reaches a few hundred million degrees. When the amount of iron exceeds a certain level in a star, the star can no longer accommodate it, and it eventually explodes in what is called a “nova” or a “supernova.” These explosions make it possible for iron to be given off into space.[2]…

All this shows that iron did not form on the Earth, but was carried from Supernovas, and was “sent down,” as stated in the verse. It is clear that this fact could not have been known in the 7th century, when the Quran was revealed. Nevertheless, this fact is related in the Quran, the Word of God, Who encompasses all things in His infinite knowledge.

The fact that the verse specifically mentions iron is quite astounding, considering that these discoveries were made at the end of the 20th century. In his book Nature’s Destiny, the well-known microbiologist Michael Denton emphasizes the importance of iron:

“Of all the metals there is none more essential to life than iron. It is the accumulation of iron in the center of a star which triggers a supernova explosion and the subsequent scattering of the vital atoms of life throughout the cosmos. It was the drawing by gravity of iron atoms to the center of the primeval earth that generated the heat which caused the initial chemical differentiation of the earth, the outgassing of the early atmosphere, and ultimately the formation of the hydrosphere. It is molten iron in the center of the earth which, acting like a gigantic dynamo, generates the earth’s magnetic field, which in turn creates the Van Allen radiation belts that shield the earth’s surface from destructive high-energy-penetrating cosmic radiation and preserve the crucial ozone layer from cosmic ray destruction…

“Without the iron atom, there would be no carbon-based life in the cosmos; no supernovae, no heating of the primitive earth, no atmosphere or hydrosphere. There would be no protective magnetic field, no Van Allen radiation belts, no ozone layer, no metal to make hemoglobin [in human blood], no metal to tame the reactivity of oxygen, and no oxidative metabolism.

“The intriguing and intimate relationship between life and iron, between the red color of blood and the dying of some distant star, not only indicates the relevance of metals to biology but also the biocentricity of the cosmos…”[4]

This account clearly indicates the importance of the iron atom. The fact that particular attention is drawn to iron in the Quran also emphasizes the importance of the element…

Before seeing the full rebuttal, see how much of the Quran is quoted and how much is assumed by the people forcible trying to find “Miracles”( aka ‘hoaxes’). The verse of the Quran isn’t even quoted in full. How much of it is said in the Quran?

The full text of the verse is:

57.025 We sent aforetime our messengers with Clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of Right and Wrong), that men may stand forth in justice; and We sent down Iron, in which is (material for) mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind, that Allah may test who it is that will help, Unseen, Him and His messengers: For Allah is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might (and able to enforce His Will).

Some Muslims claim that according to the Modern science, iron is the only element that does not belong to the Earth but is sent from heaven to Earth and hence the above verse is a miracle.

The truth is that four billion years ago, when our planet was still a scorching ball of fire, a giant asteroid mostly made of metal struck the Earth scattering a lot of it to the sky. The asteroid however penetrated the core of the Earth. That is why the deeper we go the more metal we find. However iron was not the only metal found that came with that asteroid. It contained many other metals including gold.

The verse actually should not be taken literally. In this verse Muhammad is saying that we sent you everything that you need including iron with which has mighty power i.e. is strong and can benefit you as well. He did not mean that the iron, among all the elements, is the only element that has descended from the heaven. In Muhammad’s language eveything is “sent’ to man by God and that is the meaning of this word andalna here. He did not mean that God sent the iron from they sky but since the giver of the iron is God so the verb nadala is used. Somewhere else Muhammad says that He sent down cattle (39.6) Do we have to take this literally?

This is an illogical premise. The word anzalna/anzala is used 88 times in the Quran. It is also used for:

None of these things come from outer space or heaven. Does it mean that cattle, garments, food, and the people of the book also come from supernovae? No, it doesn’t. So, why assume that surah 57:26 literally states that iron came from outer space? Why assume the literal meaning with respect to iron but the figurative meaning when referring to everything else? The only logical explanation for the use of the term ‘anzalna’ that is consistent with all its occurrences in the Quran is to denote something provided by a deity, mechanism unknown. To selectively assign ‘origination from supernovae’ to iron but not to cattle, garments, food, and the people of the book, without evidence as to why one should use the literal versus the figurative interpretation is mere supposition, or special mystical interpretation, and thus utter nonsense.

One cannot overstate that it is intellectually dishonest to assign a literal interpretation to a certain case but figurative interpretations in every other case without the evidence to support such distinction.

The truth is that most such Islamist claims are made by Islamists ignorant of prior knowledge by other peoples. The ‘iron sent down from heaven’ proposition is not distinct to Islam nor was the Islamic version the earliest. The ancient Egyptians referred to iron

Thus the concept of iron from outer space/heaven/sky was already known to humanity thousands of years before Islam.

Thus the concept of iron from outer space/heaven/sky was already known to humanity thousands of years before Islam.

The Egyptians called iron ‘the metal of heaven’ or ba-en-pet, which indicates that the first specimen employed were of meteoric origin; the Babylonian name having the same meaning. It was no doubt on account of its rarity that iron was prized so highly by the early Egyptians, while its celestial source would have its fascination.

Certainly the ancient Egyptians were aware of meteoritic iron, but uncomfortably for the archaeologists, the evidence suggests that by a very early date in their history they were already sophisticated enough to differentiate between different types of iron. Loadstones were called `res mehit ba’, meaning `north-south iron’, and Plutarch quotes Manetho as differentiating loadstones from non-magnetic iron, calling the former `Bone of Osiris’, and the latter `Bone of Typhon’, (being the Greek version of Set).3

Robert H O’Connell in 1983 translated the coffin text Spell 148, which refers to meteoritic impact as being integral to the conception of Horus. `…the blast of a meteorite such that gods fear, Isis awoke pregnant by the seed of her brother Osiris!….5 Even earlier, in 1911, Wallis Budge translated a text from the time of Pepi II (circa 2278- 2184 BC) which speaks of `the iron which came from Set, and was in the forearm of Set; it transferred to the deceased the power of the eye of Horus’.6 As the constellation of the Great Bear was considered to be the abode of Set, we can reasonably conclude that at least one iron-bearing meteorite came from this direction early in the Old Kingdom. And if we were to conclude that the ascension of Horus came about during the unification of the two lands, we would be able to postulate that this unification came about during a period of meteoritic activity.

The evidence then, seems to support the notion that the ancient Egyptians were aware of iron, and probably viewed it as a heavenly substance.

It was known and has been known for the past many many centuries that Iron has a lot of uses for mankind. Iron is definitely used in war, has been for the past many centuries, and hundreds of years before Muhammad. All the benefits of Iron such as “Without the iron atom, there would be no carbon-based life in the cosmos; no supernovae, no heating of the primitive earth, no atmosphere or hydrosphere. There would be no protective magnetic field, no Van Allen radiation belts, no ozone layer, no metal to make hemoglobin [in human blood], no metal to tame the reactivity of oxygen, and no oxidative metabolism” are all said by the person writing that article. Is any of that mentioned in the Quran? In the Quran it is simply mentioned “Iron has many benefits for mankind and is used as material in war”- which part of this could not have been said by Muhammad? “We sent Iron down to humanity” could this not have been said by Muhammad? If there was indeed any Miracle, as a minimum it could have been mentioned “Iron is not originally from the earth! Iron is made outside earth!”- simple and clear! Nothing like this is said in clear language and every single word of this ‘Miracle’ aka Islamic hoax can be easily explained.

There are a lot of differences among people who follow Islam themselves. Shias and Sunnis often say that the others are not ‘real Muslims’. Ahmadiyas are Muslims who believe that Muhammad was not the final Prophet. They are treated as non-Muslims in Pakistan since they do not believe in the finality of Muhammad’s Prophethood. The basis of the Shia-Sunni divide was actually succession to Muhammad. After Muhammad, his friend and close aid Abu Bakr became the Caliph, but some of Muhammad’s kin felt that they had the claim to the Caliph’s throne.

There are many things which are very clear but interpreted differently. For example, according to Islam, apostates are to be given death penalty. But then there are many others who try to interpret this differently. The encyclopedia wikipedia on Apostasy in Islam reports : “The Quran itself does not prescribe any earthly punishment for apostasy; Islamic scholarship differs on its punishment, ranging from execution – on an interpretation of certain hadiths – to no punishment at all as long as they “do not work against the Muslim society or nation.”[1] According to Islamic law apostasy is identified by a list of actions such as conversion to another religion, denying the existence of God, rejecting the prophets, mocking God or the prophets, idol worship, rejecting the sharia, or permitting behavior that is forbidden by the sharia, such as adultery.[2] “

Would God who made Islam as his only true religion leave so much ambiguity and difference of opinion among followers of his own true religion about a thing so important as apostasy? Apostates are given death penalty is many places. This is the legal provision in many Muslim countries even today, like Afghanistan a state supposedly rescued by liberals from the radical Taliban, which gives death penalty for leaving Islam and of course Saudi Arabia where there are laws to punish people for sorcery in today’s 21st century! If there is no compulsion in religion and God can easily make all humans as believers then why should apostates be given death penalty?The Quran in 2:27, 2:39, 3:90-91, 4:89, 9:66, 9:74, 47:25-26 makes it clear that apostates are to be punished. Let us see what it says:

“Those who break the covenant of Allah after ratifying it, and sever that which Allah ordered to be joined, and (who) make mischief in the earth: Those are they who are the losers. How disbelieve ye in Allah when ye were dead and He gave life to you! Then He will give you death, then life again, and then unto Him ye will return. ” (Quran 2:27-28)

“They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them”. (Quran 4:89)

“They swear by Allah that they said nothing (wrong), yet they did say the word of disbelief, and did disbelieve after their Surrender (to Allah). And they purposed that which they could not attain, and they sought revenge only that Allah by His messenger should enrich them of His bounty. If they repent it will be better for them; and if they turn away, Allah will afflict them with a painful doom in the world and the Hereafter, and they have no protecting friend nor helper in the earth. ” (Quran 9:74)

Let us see wikipedia again:

“In medieval times, several Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence held that apostasy by a male Muslim is punishable by death, differing on whether to execute the apostate immediately or grant the apostate an initial opportunity to repent and thus avoid penalty. They also differentiated between harmful and harmless apostasy (also known as major and minor apostasy) in accepting repentance.[3][citation needed] However, other scholars also held different views, such as that of Ibrahim al-Nakha’i (d. 715) and Sufyan al-Thawri and their followers, who rejected the death penalty and prescribed indefinite imprisonment until repentance. The hanafi jurist Sarakhsi also called for different punishments between the non-seditious religious apostasy and that of seditious and political nature, or high treason.[4][5]

Medieval Islamic scholars also differed on the punishment of a female apostate: death, enslavement, or imprisonment until repentance. Abu Hanifa and his followers refused the death penalty for female apostates, supporting imprisonment until they re-embrace Islam. Hanafi scholars maintain that a female apostate should not be killed because it was forbidden to kill women by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and because women are unlikely to take up arms and endanger the community.[5]

However, Zakir Naik stated that if a former Muslim speaks against Islam then that is considered as treason and punishable by death in a country ruled by Islamic law, he also stated that he does not know of any country which is ruled by 100% Islamic law.,[17][18][19] a view which is held by other contemporary Islamic scholars such as Bilal Philips,[20] and Yusuf al-Qaradawi,[21] the latter reduces the punishment to imprisonment till repentance in the case of an apostate who did not proclaim apostasy,[22] whereas the judgement which is still widely adopted advocates death for every ex-Muslim, for instance, Sheik Muhammad Al-Munajid the owner, writer and administrator for the popular islam-qa.com site advocates that judgement stating that leaving them alive “may encourage others to forsake the truth”.[23]

The case of Abdul Rahman, an Afghan who converted from Islam to Christianity, sparked debate on the issue. While he initially faced the death penalty, he was eventually released as he was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.[33]”

Naturally, how can God leave matters so ambiguous in such a crucial thing? Even a cursory reading of wikipedia page on apostasy shows the massive difference of opinion on the subject. In some countries like Malaysia, permission has to be obtained by a Muslim for becoming an apostate. An article on Shia-Sunni divide on wikipedia is here. Would a true God leave so many differences among followers of his religion? He would have made the Quran clear and simple and left no doubt in anyone’s mind on all issues. As a minimum, God can come today, show himself to the rest of the world, or at least send angels on earth to reveal to all Muslims which is the correct form of Islam.

There are also various differences of opinion on issues such as photography being allowed or banned in Islam (Taliban interpreted it as ‘total ban’ on photography banning television, cameras, photos). If this is wrong and Islam does allow photography and TV, then why would God give Islamic scriptures in a manner whereby followers of his ‘only true religion’ who most genuinely are devoted to his religion and genuinely believe that what they are doing is right and as per God’s command misunderstand Islam and ban TV and internet and take Afghanistan back to the 7th century? Or if photography is indeed banned, then why do most Muslim nations allow TV? And then there are issues like wearing veils for women in Islam, men growing beards (whether necessary or not), whether there should be a minimum age for marriage in Muslim countries. Many Muslims who have supported 14 as the age for marriage for girls (which is also very low, it should be at least 16 if not 18 as in India) and those Muslims who have demanded this have been called as ‘apostates’ by others. God could have simply clarified in the Quran and given precise details of what he wanted, how he wanted laws to be applied.

There are many who genuinely believe that Taliban interpretation of Islam is wrong and that terrorists who killed innocents in the name of Islam and God are not true Muslims. These Muslims who genuinely believe that Islam is a religion of peace believe that Islam is true and is from God, Muhammad was His best and last prophet. The Taliban which is completely different in ideology and practice also genuinely believes what it does and believes that Islam is true and from God and that Muhammad was His best and last Prophet. If this is the case, why would God make a religion in a manner where his genuine followers interpret things differently? God can today send angels and correct one of the two different ideologies which must be wrong- i.e. either Taliban or the people who genuinely believe that Islam is a religion of peace.

This is a question that is often asked by atheists to believers- “Why doesn’t God simply show Himself to the people to dispel all doubts that He exists ?” Simply showing Himself to humanity will also help a lot of people, since the world runs on hope and optimism. Belief in God often gives people feeling “The Almighty is behind me. He will take care of me”. Even in sad and desperate situations, believers can be optimistic and hopeful and live a happier life. So, it is very important that God show Himself to people so that they at least feel reassured that there is God behind them to help them, if not to prove to mankind that God’s only true religion is Islam.

Now many believers and people like Dr Zakir Naik have tried to answer this question. We simply quote Zakir Naik :

“The questioner asked a question that he has a friend who believes that there is one supernatural power, but if Islam is right, then why doesn’t Allah come down and say that I am God, worship me, so that everyone would believe???

There is a verse in the Quran in Yunus, Chapter 10, Verse 99:
“If it had been thy Lord’s will, he would have made all human beings as believers,- all who are on earth!….”
It is very easy for him to do that!!! But this is a test we are undergoing… Allah says in Al-Mulk, Chapter 67, Verse 2:“He Who created Death and Life, that He may test which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving;- “
So this life is the test for the hereafter… The human beings are the best of the creations of Allah SWT, he gave us freewill to either go with the orders of Allah SWT or against the orders of Allah SWT… Those who obey Allah SWT and submit their will to Allah SWT are called as Muslims… and those who go against him and disobey him are called as Kafirs(disbelievers)…

For example, if in an examination test, where the students are giving an examination, so one of the students says: “Why is the teacher testing us? Why doesn’t she come and show us all the answers and everyone will write the right answer?”!!! If the teacher comes and dictates the answer, then where is the question of the test??? So the teacher before the test taught you many things… Told you, and now it is you who have to remember back then and ask questions at that time… That is why Allah SWT has revealed the Quran and He has given you signs… Allah SWT says in the Quran in Fussilat, Chapter 41, Verse 53:
“Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the Horizons), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?”... So Allah SWT said that He will show you the truth in the soul of every human being… Now after they come to know the truth, whether they believe or not is their problem… So the teacher before the examination, she teaches that 2+2=4… In the Examination whether you write 3, 5 or 4 it is your problem… So Allah SWT has directly by himself showed you his signs in the Horizons through the sun, through the stars, through his creations and He himself will make it evident, and it is a promise that every human being will believe in one God, BUT after that, do they agree with the commandments or not that is secondary…

So this is a test we are undergoing, those who submit their will to Allah SWT they are called as Muslims, and they will be rewarded in the next life… and those who disobey they will be punished…”

Naturally this is a ridiculous answer and a ridiculous analogy. Why should God ‘test’ people without proof?Zakir Naik is of course assuming that Allah wrote the Quran. What is the proof of that- since it was dictated by Muhammad? A God like Allah who needs Angels like Gabriel to do his work, who lives only in a particular part of the Universe and who cannot even give good stationery to his chosen Messenger to record the Quran and makes his followers write it on palm trees, stones, camel bones in a language where the whole meaning can change with the slightest change in alphabet, and whose book Quran saw many versions within 20 years of the death of Muhammad is of course very unlikely to write the Quran. Actually Chapter 41 Verse 53 itself is a proof that Islam is false. “Soon will We show them our Signs in the (furthest) regions (of the Horizons), and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth. Is it not enough that thy Lord doth witness all things?” But this God did not show any signs, did not re arrange stars in a manner that they read at night “Islam is true”, filled the Quran with errors, mistakes and contradictions, and did absolutely nothing to prove that Islam is from God either during Muhammad’s time or later. Far from showing his signs in the furthest of regions, God actually kept the Muslims (and also the rest of the world) completely unaware about two whole continents of the world- viz South America and North America until nearly 900 years of the birth of Islam! Christopher Columbus accidentally discovered America in 1492 and thought that he had reached India!

Look at the other passage quoted by Zakir Naik – Chapter 10, Verse 99:
“If it had been thy Lord’s will, he would have made all human beings as believers,- all who are on earth!” This is another point which will go against Islam. If God could have easily made all humans as believers then why is the message of Islam ‘convert or kill’ with unbelievers being allowed to remain as “Dhimmis” paying the Jizyah tax in the first instance? The whole Quran contains more than 70 passages urging Muslims to wage war on non-Muslims, convert or kill them and shun them in this life and the next. Apostates i.e. those Muslims who leave Islam are given death penalty. This is the legal provision in many Muslim countries even today, like Afghanistan a state supposedly rescued by liberals from the radical Taliban, which gives death penalty for leaving Islam. If there is no compulsion in religion and God can easily make all humans as believers then why should apostates be given death penalty?The Quran in 2:27, 2:39, 3:90-91, 4:89, 9:66, 9:74, 47:25-26 makes it clear that apostates are to be punished. Some passages of the Quran are quoted below:

“8:60 And prepare against them what force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to terrorize thereby the enemy of Allah…

8:12 I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them.

Unbelievers

2:216, Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you

3:28, Let not the believers Take for friends or helpers Unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, in nothing will there be help from Allah

8:15-16, O ye who believe! when ye meet the Unbelievers in hostile array, never turn your backs to them. If any do turn his back to them on such a day – unless it be in a stratagem of war, or to retreat to a troop (of his own)- he draws on himself the wrath of Allah, and his abode is Hell,- an evil refuge (indeed)!

8:17, It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah: when thou threwest (a handful of dust), it was not thy act, but Allah’s: in order that He might test the Believers by a gracious trial from Himself

8:65, O Prophet! rouse the Believers to the fight. If there are twenty amongst you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred: if a hundred, they will vanquish a thousand of the Unbelievers

9:5, But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the idolators wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem.

9:73, O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode is Hell,- an evil refuge indeed

9:123, O ye who believe! fight the unbelievers who gird you about, and let them find firmness in you: and know that Allah is with those who fear Him.

8:39, And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere.”

These are just a few of the many passages of the Quran where Muslims are ordered to convert or kill unbelievers. If God can make all humans believers, then why does he force Muslims to do his work of killing and converting unbelievers when he could have done so Himself? Also, this same God does the following :

So God deliberately keeps unbelievers away from Islam and then punishes them for that- this is sadism. And if this is the case, then how can unbelievers ‘fail the test’ when their fate is already sealed by God?

What a ridiculous analogy of students and teachers! Students are tested to know how much they have learnt and progressed, or many times tests are kept just for the reason that students may study (practice tests) for the big tests. (For example, giving Mock CAT tests before taking the actual CAT exam for MBA) Before the test, students know that there is going to be a test and try their best to prepare for it. Did God tell all humans before their birth that Islam is true, that their lives on earth will be a test, and they have to pass his test of faith by following his religion correctly? Students saying “Teacher should show us the answers” would completely end the meaning of the test, how would God showing Himself to humans end the meaning of Our ‘test’?On the contrary, it would be a very good thing, since it should prove to humanity that God exists and that he indeed is testing us, and this would enable humans to consciously follow Islam to pass the ‘test’ of God. A God who doesn’t even inform humans about ‘testing’ them and throws them in Hell forever for failing his tests is not a true God. Also, students are ‘tested’ for 2 things- to know how much knowledge they have gained, which is very essential for their progress, and often to make them study and improve their performance in the final big exam. For what reason would God ‘test’ mankind? God being Omniscient would already know everything about mankind. And then such a God who ‘tests’ people keeps nearly 80 % of the people unaware about his own true religion, keeps continents like North and South America unknown to the rest of the world for nearly 900 years after Islam’s birth!

In this case, Zakir Naik has given a ridiculous analogy that asking “Why doesn’t God show Himself” is like students asking “Why doesn’t the teacher show us the answers in a test?” Firstly, the fact that life is a test is assumed by Zakir Naik, which is completely unproven and most likely untrue. Secondly, here asking God to show himself is like asking the TEACHER to show herself, the teacher who takes the test is expected to show herself. We are not asking for answers of the questions to be shown. Zakir Naik is not a scholar but a showman, he has a great memory and can impress the audience temporarily with his words. He has been completely exposed here by Ali Sina.

This is a video of a debate between Zakir Naik’s guru Abdullah Thariq in a debate with Mahendra Pal Arya in full:

Again we must quote the virus thing. Tiny invisible viruses living somewhere on a drop of water somewhere down the Pacific Ocean are being ‘tested’ by God without even being told that they are being tested and God doesn’t even show Himself to them. Man has been around for lakhs of years on this earth, and yet there is not a single instance recorded of God showing Himself to humanity. God is supposed to be omnipresent and be able to do all the things. Would a true God play hide-and-seek with humans and not show Himself to mankind ever since the birth of mankind? Also, there are so many crimes committed in the name of God by misguided followers who genuinely believe that they are doing the right thing and spreading faith in God. Those who destroy idols of Tulja Bhavani in Tuljapur genuinely believe that they did a sacred and a very good thing, whereas the others who are devotees of Goddess Tulja Bhavani (like Chhatrapati Shivaji was) will feel exactly the opposite. At least one of these two must be wrong. Now God should show Himself here and directly tell the wrong group that the other group is right and to stop destruction in His name. Many claim that the radical Muslims who killed unbelievers in 26/11 and 9/11 did not follow true Islam. But they genuinely believed that they were following true Islam and doing the right thing for God. Now, God being omniscient would have known that innocent people were going to be killed by radicals (either from his own true religion, or from a false religion) and should have shown Himself to these radicals and told them not to kill in his name!

Even assuming that God chose Muhammad as his Prophet and wants all humans to follow Islam and is so concerned about tiny humans believing in His Messenger and obeying His Messenger that he will throw all those who don’t do so in Hell forever, there are very easy ways for an Omnipotent and Omniscient being like God to do so. Of course, again it must be remembered that this is like the Creator of all the Oceans of the world insisting that tiny invisible viruses on a drop of water somewhere down the Pacific Ocean believing in the Prophethood of a fellow virus. Let us assume that Islam is true and God indeed wants people to follow Islam- and that Muhammad was indeed a Prophet.

Why doesn’t God do anything today to prove that Islam is true? Muhammad claimed that one night, he rode on a winged horse that took him from Masjidu’l Haram (the temple of Ka’ba) to Msjidu’l Aqsa (in Jerusalem) and from there to the seventh heaven where he was shown the hell and the paradise and then taken to the presence of Allah. This story that is commonly accepted by Muslims and is known as Mi’raj is also confirmed in the Quran

a journey by night, From the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque. – Quran 17:1

There are many problems with this story which we will not look right now, but just mention that many of Muhammad’s followers left him after he made this claim, realizing that he was lying. But some Muslims, blinded by faith have tried to defend this as well. And in this, they say “Belief in supernatural things will make others know that such a trip is possible”. (Actually, such pathetic arguments from amateurs like the person who has tried to defend Muhammad’s Miraj will only make the desperate defenders look even more silly). But the point here is- Belief in Supernatural things. If God is capable of doing supernatural things like Muhammad’s Miraj, why does not do anything supernatural NOW to simply prove that Islam is true? Why people like Dr Zakir Naik are needed to ‘understand Islam’ (whereas Zakir Naik is a showman with excellent memory using ridiculous arguments to promote his own business) today and answer many questions- such as “Who created God?” (Ridiculous analogy and laughable arguments by Zakir Naik) or “Why doesn’t God show himself?“

Today, God doesn’t have to show himself to prove that Islam is true. He can rearrange stars so that at night they read “Islam is true. Follow it. I, God, have rearranged stars so as to make mankind know that my religion is Islam”. Simple and clear! Or he can send angels down to earth such as Gabriel and make them say to humanity, “We are sent by God to show mankind that Islam is true.” Or he can raise Muhammad from his grave and make him appear before everybody and say “God has raised me again to show mankind that Islam is true”. Of course, there are many ways in which God can send his message and convey that Islam is true. He can do some things which are undoable by humans- like first telling humanity that he will be splitting the moon and then splitting it, and then again re-joining it, or declaring to mankind that he will show that something can enter a blackhole and come out of it (send an angel there and bring him out and show mankind this) or stopping the rotation of a planet like Mercury around the sun! But absolutely nothing of this sort is done. This writer recalls talking to a Christian classmate in college about proof that Jesus was the SON of God. She said, “If God gives proof, then everyone will belief. The true test of faith is to believe without proof”. If that is the case, then it is admitting that there is NO PROOF AT ALL that the religion is true! Will a true God send messengers without proof when there are hundreds of charlatans and imposters and hoax prophets? But then, some other Muslims say that Quran is the proof that Islam is from God. Now if God does give proof that Islam is from Him, then surely He can do so in many ways some of which are mentioned above!

Belgium-based world famous scholar Dr Koenraad Elst has written in a chapter “How to deal with Islam” in his book “BJP vis-a-vis Hindu resurgence” (Voice of India, 1997): “This fact becomes more than obvious when one studies the context in which these revelations come to Muhammad. One finds that Allah never fails to confirm what his Prophet is planning to do in order to serve the latter’s cause in a particular situation. Aisha, the favorite wife of the prophet had seen through the game and summed up her observation reported by all orthodox traditionalists “Truly your God seems to have rushed in answering your prayers”. Dayananda Saraswati was not wrong when he characterized the Allah of the Quran as Muhammad’s domestic servant.”

However, here one sentence must be added. It is not easy for a Muslim (i.e. a Muhammadan) to bear much criticism of Muhammad (let alone see Muhammad for who he was). It is like telling a child that his father is a rapist, murderer and a thief. A child who adulates his father will not be able to accept it even if all the proofs in the world are shown to him. He will instead call you a liar, hate you for hurting him, curse you and may explode in anger and hit you physically. A Muslim will genuinely believe that Muhammad was the MOST PERFECT person, kind and compassionate, merciful. He will genuinely believe that Muhammad was a champion of women’s rights (even though the truth is exactly the opposite), that Muhammad stopped the practice of female infanticide, that Arabs used to quarrel with themselves and get drunk, Muhammad banned drinking of alcohol, united the people and improved their lives and showed them the true path to God, banned slavery and freed people (whereas the reality is exactly the opposite, Islam and Muhammad enslaved people). A Muslim would generally admire and respect Muhammad more than his own parents. To understand this matter, a Christian reader should imagine being told that Jesus was a rapist, murderer and a thief, or a Buddhist being told the same about Buddha, or a Dalit being told the same about Ambedkar. A Hindu should imagine being told the same about Chhatrapati Shivaji, Swami Vivekananda, Krishna, Rama etc. That is why Pakistan has the draconian Blasphemy Law (which gives death for insulting Muhammad). We saw recently how a Governor was shot dead by his own bodyguard for supporting scrapping of the Blasphemy Law and how the murderer was treated like a hero, that the judge who sentenced him to death had to flee Pakistan. The Danish cartoons on Muhammad in early 2006 also shook the whole world resulting in nearly 100 deaths worldwide. This shows how strong the spell of Muhammad is on Muslims.

Coming to Muhammad, there are so many cases which can be told as proof that Muhammad made up the verses to serve his own cause.

1) One day Muhammad visited one of his wives, Hafsah, the daughter of Omar. He saw Mariyah, Hafsah’s Coptic maid. He sent Hafsah out telling her that her father wanted to see her. When she went out, he called Mariyah and had sex with her in Hafsah’s bed. Hafsah found out that her father had not send for her and returned to find her illustrious husband, naked, between the legs of her maid. She screamed and started making a scandal. Muhammad tried to calm down his hysteric wife and promised her not to approach Mariyah again while pulling up his pants, and asked her to keep the incident, a secret. Hafsah informed Aisha who with a group of other co-wives confronted Muhammad. Then Muhammad claimed, God revealed Surah 66 Tahrim (‘Banning’) in which he “rebuked” Muhammad telling him:

Q.66: -5.1. O Prophet! Why do you ban (for yourself) that which Allâh has made lawful to you, seeking to please your wives? And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.2. Allâh has already ordained for you (O men), the dissolution of your oaths. And Allâh is your Maula (Lord, or Master, or Protector, etc.) and He is the All-Knower, the All-Wise.3. And (remember) when the Prophet (SAW) disclosed a matter in confidence to one of his wives (Hafsah), so when she told it (to another i.e. ‘Aishah), and Allâh made it known to him, he informed part thereof and left a part. Then when he told her (Hafsah) thereof, she said: “Who told you this?” He said: “The All-Knower, the All-Aware (Allâh) has told me”.4. If you two (wives of the Prophet SAW, namely ‘Aishah and Hafsah turn in repentance to Allâh, (it will be better for you), your hearts are indeed so inclined (to oppose what the Prophet SAW likes), but if you help one another against him (Muhammad SAW), then verily, Allâh is his Maula (Lord, or Master, or Protector, etc.), and Jibrael (Gabriel), and the righteous among the believers, and furthermore, the angels are his helpers.5. It may be if he divorced you (all) that his Lord will give him instead of you, wives better than you, Muslims (who submit to Allâh), believers, obedient to Allâh, turning to Allâh in repentance, worshipping Allâh sincerely, fasting or emigrants (for Allâh’s sake), previously married and virgins.“ [Tarikh Tabari also see Bukhari3.43.648 ]

Isn’t Allah nice to his prophet? He rebukes him for banning himself to have sex with Mariyah when Allah has made this lawful to him. Then he tells his beloved prophet that he does not have to keep his words just to appease a bunch of women. Go ahead Allâh has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths. Allah even tells his beloved prophet to divorce all of his uppity wives if they are not obedient and content with his sexual escapades and marry lots of other women who will be better.

Any person with an iota of common sense will know that Muhammad made up these verses to serve his cause. It is here that Aisha is reported to have said “Truly your God seems to have been very quick in answering your prayers”.

2) In one case, Muhammad wanted to have intercourse with the wife of his foster son Zaid. Here Allah revealed the following in the Quran:

33.37“Behold! Thou didst say to one who had received the grace of Allah and thy favour: “Retain you (in wedlock) your wife, and fear Allah.” But you did hide in your heart that which Allah was about to make manifest: you did fear the people, but it is more fitting that you should fear Allah. Then when Zaid had dissolved (his marriage) with her, with the necessary (formality), We joined her in marriage to you: in order that (in future) there may be no difficulty to the Believers in (the matter of) marriage with the wives of their adopted sons, when the latter have dissolved with the necessary (formality) (their marriage) with them. And Allah’s command must be fulfilled. “

How wise! The noblest institution of child adoption is annulled because Muhammad wanted to have sex with the wife of his foster son. When this incident is brought up, many Muslims claim that Muhammad did nothing, God commanded him to marry the wife of his foster son, in Chapter 33, and God’s order had to be followed!

There are so many such passages in the Quran.Below are given just two more.

“Prophet, We have made lawful to you the wives to whom you have granted dowrise and the slave girls whom God had given as booty;the daughters of your paternal and maternal uncles and of your paternal and maternal aunts who fled with you; and any believing woman who gives herself to the Prophet and whom the Prophet wishes to take in marriage.This privilege is yours alone, being granted to no other believer. We well know the duties we have imposed on the faithful concerning their wives and slave-girls. We grant you this privilege so that none ,ay blame you. God is forgiving and merciful. (Quran 33:50 )

 You may put of any of your wives you please and take to your bed any of them your please. Nor is it unlawful for you to receive any of those whom you have temporarily set aside. That is more proper, so that they may be contented and not vexed, and may all be pleased with what you give them. (Quran 33:51 )”

This also carries another very important thing “Slave girls whom God had given to you as a booty are lawful to you”. This means that God supports the institution of slavery and gives slave girls as gifts to Muhammad. Firstly, no God can be a supporter of slavery, this line itself is a clear proof that the Quran is not from God, since nowhere does it oppose slavery and institutionalizes slavery. This also conclusively disproves the claim by some Muslims that Muhammad ended slavery or that Islam abolished slavery. And secondly, Muhammad made up these verses to serve his own cause.

Aisha, the favorite wife of Muhammad had seen through this game. A Hadith reports: Narrated Aisha:
“I used to look down upon those ladies who had given themselves to Allah’s Apostle and I used to say, “Can a lady give herself (to a man)?” But when Allah revealed: “You (O Muhammad) can postpone (the turn of) whom you will of them (your wives), and you may receive any of them whom you will; and there is no blame on you if you invite one whose turn you have set aside (temporarily).” (33.51) I said (to the Prophet), “I feel that your Lord hastens in fulfilling your wishes and desires.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 311)

And as we have seen Dayananda Saraswati say earlier “Why does this verse inculcate faith in Mohammad along with that in God, when the Mohammadans profess to believe in none but God, and hold that none is worthy of sharing homage with Him ? Hence they can not call God Incomparable. If it be argued that this verse only teaches that people should have faith in Mohammad as a Prophet, we should kike to know where is the necessity of Mohammad (being regarded as a Prophet). If God cannot accomplish his desired object without making him His Prophet, he is certainly powerless.” (p. 672 of Dayananda Saraswati’s book Satyartha Prakash of 1875, English translation) “Now (the Mohammadan) God Himself has made Mohammad His partner (in Divine honours, etc.) and has Himself declared this fact in the Quran. God is so much attached to Mohammad that He has made him His partner even in paradise. It is useless to call the Mohammadan God Independent when He is dependent upon Mohammad for every little thing. Such things can never be found in a revealed book.”

Dayananda Saraswati continues “Now reader mark ! How clever Mohammad is ! He makes his God say in this verse that God will love those who follow Mohammad and even their sins will be forgiven. This shows that the heart of Mohammad was not pure. It appears that Mohammad (made or) had the Quran made in order to serve his selfish interests.” (p. 670)

“Now mark the prejudice of God and of His Prophet ! Mohammad like other men of his stamp, was well aware that if he did not stamp his religion with divine authority it would never flourish, nor would he or his followers be able to obtain help and power which might help them to live a life of ease and luxury. All this goes to show that Mohammad knew only too well how to compass his selfish ends and to deprive others of their due-a fact which proves that he was no well-wisher of humanity. Such a man can never command the trust and confidence of good and enlightened men.” (p. 674)

“Who but the Mohammedan God would be so unjust in fighting and helping others to do the same and so active in causing breaches of peace ? Now look at this religion, which sanctions wholesale robbery for the benefit of the Prophet ! Are these people any better than thugs ? God participates in the crime of robbery when he takes his share of the loot. He brings disgrace on Himself by favouring such dacoits. We are at a loss to understand whence came such a book, such a God and such a Prophet in order to disturb the happy relations between different nations of the world and thereby, inflict great suffering on them. Had not such faiths flourished in the world, all would have lived in peace with each other.” (p. 680-81)

As we have said, imagine us as the creator of the vast Pacific Ocean. The earth is like a drop of water in the ocean of all the oceans of the world. Then humans on earth are as insignificant as ants. Imagine some very very small viruses (so small that they are invisible) in a drop of water somewhere down the Pacific and if one of the viruses claims to other viruses that he is our Messenger and that we keep making it legal for that virus to dissolve his oaths, marry his foster son’s wife, legalize him to marry slave girls, loot etc!

Why didn’t God turn Muhammad into a scholar overnight and provide him with good stationery to record the Quran instead of relying on Muhammad’s supporters’ memory, many of whom got killed in the Battle of Riddahs (Apostasy) since AD October 632 and forcing them to write the Quran on palm leaves, stones and other such places? One basic question that will be asked is this- “Why did Allah choose Muhammad as a vehicle or medium to record the Quran when Allah knew that Muhammad was illiterate? Or at least, why did Allah not turn Muhammad into a great scholar overnight and provide him with good stationery to record the Quran?”

The Quran is what Muhammad dictated. In the translation of the Quran by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, (Pickthall’s translation is considered as very authentic) the following things are mentioned in the “Introduction” before the Quran’s first chapter: “All the surahs of the Koran had been recorded in writing before the Prophet’s death, and many Muslims had committed the whole Koran to memory. But the written surahs were dispersed among the people; and when, in a battle which took place during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr- that is to say, within two years of the Prophet’s death-a large number of those who knew the whole Koran by heart were killed, a collection of the whole Koran was made and put in writing. In the Caliphate of Othman, all existing copies of surahs were called in, and an authoritative version, based on Abu Bakr’s collection and the testimony of those who had the whole Koran by heart, was compiled exactly in the present form and order, which is regarded as traditional and as the arrangement of the Prophet himself, the Caliph Othman and his helpers being Comrades of the Prophet and the most devout students of the Revelation. The Koran has thus been very carefully preserved.” (Page xxviii of Pickthall’s translation of Quran, Madhur Sandesh Sangam, New Delhi, India, 1995)

Sadly for them, the information given in this translation by British Muslim Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall clearly proves exactly the opposite. Carefully read the sentences written in bold by us. “But written Surahs were dispersed among the people”. What is the guarantee that all Surahs were compiled and none were lost? Or that no extra Surahs were added which were not there? Arabic is a language where the whole meaning of the sentence can change with the slightest change in shape of the alphabet. In this translation of the Quran, Pickthall also admits “Within 2 years of the Prophet’s death a large number of people who knew the whole Koran by heart were killed”. Here he is talking of the Battle of Riddah (Apostasy) in Arabia in late 632- early 633 AD when Arabia rose in revolt against Islam and gallantly fought Muslims . In this battle, the Muslims would have surely lost and Arabia freed from Islam (and perhaps the whole world) had it not been for treachery from Muslims when the woman leading the Apostates (Salma) was killed treacherously, and seeing her dead the soldiers lost courage. Islam’s victories in India and in many other places were also largely due to treachery (Example, Muhammad Ghori defeated Prithviraj Chauhan in AD 1192 through treachery, after losing for the first time, in 1190-91 he was pardoned and allowed to go with the promise that he would not attack again, which he duly violated, and attacked Prithviraj at night and this is how Islam began its rule in India). But though the non-Muslims lost, a large number of Muslims were killed in this battle, many of whom had learnt the Quran by heart, which has been admitted by Pickthall. “In the Caliphate of Othman, all existing copies of surahs were called in, and an authoritative version, based on Abu Bakr’s collection and the testimony of those who had the whole Koran by heart, was compiled…” This shows that there were many different versions of the Quran in use by that time, during Othman’s rule (644-656 AD). Othman ordered all other versions to be destroyed. Now the very fact that within so few as 20 years of Muhammad’s death there were different versions of the Quran and there was no one to check or guarantee that Othman’s version was exactly as Muhammad said! That is, Othman had to do the job of compiling the Quran which should have ideally been done properly by Muhammad. If God sent Muhammad down to the people with His Message and his book if guidance viz the Quran would he have made it so difficult for the humans? He would have first made Muhammad a scholar capable of reading and writing overnight, being the Almighty and then provided Muhammad and all Muslims good stationery to record the Quran instead of relying on Muhammad’s companions to write on palm leaves, on shoulder-blade bones of camels and on stones and memorize it, and then have a large number of those who had memorized it killed in the Battle of Riddah.

Firstly, Muhammad dictated the Quran to his followers, who noted it down in many places. According to Islamic tradition, the Qur’an was originally written on palm leaves, on shoulder-blade bones of camels and on stones. There was no single copy of the Quran existing during Muhammad’s own lifetime in a written form! Muhammad was asked many times by Meccans to perform any miracles to prove that He was a Messenger of God, such as making his God flow rivers of milk, and Muhammad used to say “I cannot perform any miracles, I am only a mortal messenger. My only miracle is the Quran.” (Muhammad need not have had to perform any miracles, couldnt GOD have flown rivers of milk to prove Muhammad’s Prophethood to the people?) But this ‘only miracle’ of Muhammad also was not present in his own life-time in a proper book form!

As a matter of fact, even this tradition, that Othman ended everything and finalized the Quran before AD 656 and that nothing has changed in the Quran ever since, is also wrong. Wansbrough (“Quranic Studies” Wansbrough, J. Oxford, 1977) showed that far from being fixed in the seventh century, the definitive text of Koran had still not been achieved even as late as the later part of the ninth century. Thus, a statement of Muslim creed, Fiqh Akbar I, dated to the middle of eighth century, does not refer to the Koran at all, which is quite surprising. The ninth century also saw the first collections of the ancient Arab poetry seeing the light of day, in which too there are instances of manipulation, as alleged by some scholars. In fact, there is a strong opinion among many scholars that the Quran was actually finalized in AD 933.

It is the accepted tradition that Angel Gabriel communicated the Quran to Muhammad in pure Arabic from God. In other words, God sent down the Quran to Muhammad through Angel Gabriel in Arabic. Actually, when Muhammad first got such an experience, he thought he had been possessed by a ghost and thought of committing suicide! But it was his wife Khadija who convinced him that He had been chosen as a Prophet. This is another clear proof that Islam is not from God. Had God sent an Angel, say Gabriel, to Muhammad to convey to Quran, he would have made Gabriel convey this clearly to Muhammad instead of making Muhammad think that he had been possessed by a demon and driving him to the point of suicide. The very fact that his wife told him that he had become a Prophet and Muhammad himself thought of suicide shows that Muhammad was not chosen as God’s Prophet.

But let us assume that Angel Gabriel did indeed come to Muhammad, sent down by God to reveal the Quran. The ordinary Meccans, Muhammad’s own contemporaries, were almost unanimous in dismissing his revelations as anything but divine. Barring a handful of followers, not more than 70 or 80 people in 12 years of preaching from AD 610 to AD 622, everyone dismissed Muhammad’s claims of receiving Divine messages. Here, if Angel Gabriel really did visit Muhammad for these 12 years, and he and God saw that people are ridiculing Muhammad and dismissing his claims, Gabriel could have easily shown Himself to all Meccans and revealed the Quran to all of them. Even one paranormal act could have been sufficient in showing that Muhammad received Divine messages from God.But Angel Gabriel showed Himself only to Muhammad and Muhammad dictated the Quran! This clearly shows that there was absolutely nothing done which could not have been done by humans. There is of course, no proof at all that Angel Gabriel visited Muhammad carrying God’s messages. It could be that Muhammad genuinely believed what he felt, as modern scholars claim ‘TLE’. But if Gabriel went all the way from God to Muhammad and back, he could easily have revealed the Quran to everyone, instead of Muhammad. It is also reported in a Hadith (Bukhari 4.440) that Muhammad said to his favorite wife Aisha once: “Angel Gabriel is here. He says salutations to you” to which Aisha said: “My salutations to him. You see what I do not see”, meaning that Aisha could not see Gabriel and she said this to Muhammad directly.

As we have seen Swami Dayananda Saraswati observe, the author of the Quran was not God, it was not even any learned or intelligent person. It was someone with a very limited knowledge and understanding. One who thought that God resides at a particular location in this Universe and is not Omnipresent, that God needs Angels to carry his messages.

The size of earth in the visible universe is like a drop of water in the entire ocean, of all the oceans in the world. Or like a sand grain in the seashore, of all the seashores of the world. Would the creator of such a vast universe be bothered if tiny humans living on a tiny planet worship Him as the only God and follow Muhammad or not? A journey by an airplane gives an indication as to how insignificant we are even on this earth. Looking down from an airplane, humans seem less than ants. Imagine ourselves as the creator of all the sand particles on the seashore of all the seashores of the world. Would we be so concerned that tiny creatures living on one tiny particle somewhere unknown follow us and if they don’t worship us, would we burn them in Hell? Or would we be so concerned about tiny viruses living on a drop of water somewhere deep down in the Pacific Ocean? Imagine one such small creature who lives in a drop of water somewhere down the Pacific Ocean telling others that he is the

Messenger of the Creator of all oceans i.e. us and if other viruses (which are so tiny that they are invisible) do not follow him, we will roast them in Hell forever.

How ridiculous would it sound?

A well-known scholar and perhaps the most knowledgeable person on Islam in the world today, Ali Sina, has given an apt analogy. Imagine if there is an ant colony somewhere in our garden. Would we burn ants in fire and torture them if they don’t worship us as the only Savior? Our garden and ants are still very significant, as compared to humans and the Universe. Our Milky Way galaxy is utterly insignificant in it. Then our solar system is an invisible speck inside this galaxy and then there is Earth. Even the sun, which we see everyday, is some 15 crore kilometers away from the earth, i.e. 150 million kilometers and it takes light a good 8 minutes to reach the earth from the sun. What is our significance in this universe? Nothing! Would the maker of such a vast universe be offended if we humans don’t worship him? It is utterly foolish to say such thing. The Hubble Space Telescope has detected galaxies that are 46 billion light years away from each direction of the Earth. That is an expanse of 92 billion light years from one side of the observable universe to the other side. The observable universe, which is 92 billion light years wide is not all the universe. The complete universe is much, much bigger. According to some calculation, the whole universe would have grown to some 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times the size of the observable universe. That is 10 followed by 24 zeros. Put in another way, the complete universe is to the observable universe, as the observable universe is to an atom.

Now, let us assume that the Creator (Assuming God exists) of this vast universe does indeed want all humans to worship Him as the only God and follow his only true religion. Surely He can do so in better ways. He can create mankind in a manner whereby everyone born with belief suited to him. He can alter human brain in a manner whereby everyone will naturally worship Him as the only God and follow His last Messenger. or he can show Himself to humanity, or at least send his angels to show them to humanity.

It is the basic belief of Islam that Islam is the way to Heaven, the door to Eternal Paradise, while not accepting Islam is the way to Hell Fire- also eternal. The sufferings in Hell are mentioned in the Quran many times, (Chapter 22 Verses 19-22 are a bit too horrific!) and the whole Quran is full of sentences like “For the disbelievers there is a painful doom”. There are also Muslims desperate to spread ‘The Message of Islam’ in India- through leaflets on railway stations, and other things urging Hindus to give up idolatory and polytheism and recognizing Islam as the only true religion of God since ‘God will not accept anything other than Islam’ (Quran 3:85). Even a cursory visit to the website www.islamreligion.com which is a website made for non-Muslims and massively advertized on the internet makes this point very clear. Often the question is asked- “What about the people who are unaware of Islam?”

The leaflets and Muslims who try their best to ‘spread the message of Islam’ say that their job is only to spread the message of Islam- ‘there is no compulsion in religion’ (Quran 2:256) which is of course, false, since such passages are early Meccan verses when Muhammad’s followers were in a minority . As for people who are unaware about Islam, some say “God will judge such people by their deeds and decide whether they will go to Hell or Heaven. As for those who were aware about Islam but did not convert to it, Eternal Hell is the only place where God will send them. As for believers, i.e. Muslims, God will send good people to Heaven directly, evil-doers in Hell for a period of time depending on their deeds and then transfer them to Eternal Heaven because they followed the true religion of God”. There are many who believe that all non-Muslims will automatically go to Hell, irrespective of whether they are aware of Islam or not. Not believing in God and Muhammad as his Final Prophet is sufficient crime for Eternal hell, even though they may not have even heard of Muhammad ever. If one assumes that all non-Muslims go to Hell irrespective of whether they are aware of Islam or not, then this leads one to ask- Why would God not even keep some people aware of Islam, give them a chance to accept Muhammad’s Prophethood and directly burn them in Hell for eternity for no fault of theirs? Even Muslims who write letters to the editor in English weekly Organiser, which is run by RSS activists, have written that “Message of Islam has not reached India”. This was written by Tanvir Fatima in one her letters.

Now the question comes- “Would the Amighty God leave 80 % people in the world unaware of the Message of his own true religion?” Islam has been present in India since more than 1300 years, the first attack was in AD 636 and the first mosque was built in Kerala in 629 AD, during Muhammad’s own lifetime. Even after so many years in India, ruling considerable part of the country for more than 500 years (AD 1206- 1707), how has the message of Islam not reached the Indian people? Most Indians, even today in this age of Internet, are totally unaware about the basic ideologies of Islam, its strong hatred for idolatory, its belief in a exclusive, jealous God, its belief in Eternal Heaven and Hell and Day of Judgment, or its massive adulation and following of Muhmmad etc. As an example, let us say breaking of idols. Since Islam considers idolatory as an unforgivable sin (believing that worshiping God in the form of an idol or symbol is equal to worshiping someone other than God, and this makes the exclusive God jealous) it would rejoice at breaking of idols of Tulja Bhavani (of whom Chhatrapati Shivaji was a great devotee) in her sacred city of Tuljapur. But Hindus- then as well as now-would consider this as an unforgivable sin, as an insult of Goddess Bhavani and genuinely believe that idol breakers would be punished by God for such an act. If this is the situation in a place like India, where Islam has been present for more than 1300 years, then what can be said about places where Islam did not even touch until recently, like South America, or Australia/ New Zealand?

As in 1991 AD, Muslims constituted 19.9 % of the world population. This percentage has grown tremendously with time, especially in the past 100 years,and even more since the holocaust and genocide and elimination of virtually all Hindus from Pakistan (from 20 % in 1947 to 1 % now) and Bangladesh (29 % in 1947 to less than 10 % now). This global Muslim population must have been something like 15 % till a 100 years ago and even lesser and lesser as we go back in time. Now out of the remaining 85 % non-Muslims of the world, most of them were unaware of the Message of Islam, its ideology and beliefs! And a majority were not even aware about Islam’s existence! Poor, illiterate people of South America, or North American’s original residents till, say, at least AD 1800 (more than a thousand years since Islam’s birth), were not even aware about existence of any such religion in any part of the world! Even today, only a little more than 20 % of the world is Muslim and most of the remaining non-Muslims are unaware about Islam’s message and ideologies.

If Islam was really from God, would he have kept an overwhelming majority of the humans unaware about his only true religion? He, being all-powerful, all-knowing could have easily found a way to make South Americans and North Americans and the rest of the world aware about Islam and its message right since the beginning of Islam. He could have also easily aided Muslims in spreading Islam’s message to these places, and helped them discover these places in the first place, instead of allowing Christopher Columbus to discover America in 1492, nearly 900 years after the birth of Islam! That even after nearly 1400 years after its birth, and massive killings in wars, enslaving people, forcibly converting the entire populations to Islam (Islamic scripture itself is quite unambiguous about the manner in which Islam was forced on the people by Muhammad and his supporters) -regions North and West of Arabia succumbed immediately after Muhammad’s death, areas like Turkey were subdued in AD 960, only little more than 20 % of the world follows Islam, shows that it is definitely not from God. If God willed and Islam was truly his religion, he would have easily made everyone aware about Islam and its ideologies in the present form (i.e. the Quran containing so many errors and contradictions). The word ‘present form’ is used because doing supernatural things to prove Islam’s truth such as rearranging stars to make them read “Islam is true- it is from God and I have rearranged stars to make you aware of it” or to order Angel Gabriel to show himself to everyone to today- is not being mentioned at all! To this many Muslims would argue, that God ‘tests’ Muslims to do their duty and spread his message. Such an argument too could have a little merit had there been at least 20 % followers of God’s true religion everywhere in the world -to spread the message of Islam in places like South America and North America throughout Islam’s 1400 years.

In all places where Islam’s message has spread, through sword or through preaching, it has been entirely due to humans and it has reached a mere 20 % of the world in 1400 years.

There is a passage in the Quran that describes the mother of Jesus of Nazareth as the sister of Aaron. It goes like this: “At length she brought (the babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: ‘O Mary! Truly a strange thing has thou brought! O sister of Aaron, thy father was not a man of evil, nor your mother a woman unchaste!’” (Sura 19:27-28).

But Aaron, the brother of Moses, lived and died centuries before Mary, the mother of Jesus was born; and Aaron’s sister was Miriam, not Mary.There is a time gap of more than 12 centuries between Jesus’ mother Mary and Moses’ sister Miriam. In the Arabic language, the word for Mary and Miriam is the same word, (Maryam) perhaps the cause of this mistake. It is an error that an Arab of the 7th Century might make, to confuse Mary with Miriam, but not a mistake that the all-knowing Allah would make.

The above error was discovered during Muhammad’s lifetime, and it was brought to his attention. He had an answer for it.

His explanation went as follows: “The (people of the old age) used to give names (to their persons) after the names of Apostles and pious persons who had gone before them.” (Translation of Sahih Muslim, The Book on General Behaviour (Kitable Al-Adab), Book 025, Number 5326).

There is no way that Muhammad could have known that this was the reason that Mary was called “sister of Aaron” in the Quran unless Allah told him. Mary is never addressed anywhere (and for any reason) as “the sister of Aaron” in any of the Jewish or Christian scriptures. So either Allah gave this explanation to Muhammad as the reason why Mary was addressed in the Quran as “the sister of Aaron,” or Muhammad lied.

If we believe that Allah told this to Muhammad, then we have to wonder why, to avoid the appearance of an error in the Quran, Allah didn’t explain the use of the phrase “sister of Aaron” right in the Quran in the first place. For example, why didn’t the Quran say something like this: “At length she brought (the babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: ‘O Mary! Truly a strange thing has thou brought!’ And addressing her with a pious name of old, they said, ‘O sister of Aaron, thy father was not a man of evil, nor your mother a woman unchaste’”? Surely Allah, being the greatest of all poets, could have found a beautiful, perfect way to explain this issue in the Quran.

Allah has many attributes, but “stupid” is not one of them. Why did Allah allow His perfect book to be doubted and attacked for describing Mary as “the sister of Aaron” when Allah could have easily fixed the problem beforehand right in the Quran? Because Allah did not fix this passage, many believe that Muhammad was lying to cover a mistake that he, not Allah, had made. Note that Muhammad’s explanation nullifies all other possible explanations, such as the possibility that the brother of Mary mentioned in the Quran was a different “Aaron” from the brother of Moses.

Also note that the Quran is a perfect book, but contains an imperfection that could have easily been corrected within the book itself, creating a contradiction of the most fundamental sort.

Surely Allah knew that the phrase, “sister of Aaron” would be read as a mistake by many readers. He knew that the Arabic word for Miriam and Mary was the same word, pointing to an Arab (and who else but Muhammad?) as the likely source of this passage. For all these reasons, Allah had every incentive to correct this problem in the Quran so that it would not look like Muhammad’s mistake; but He didn’t correct it.

Therefore, we conclude that Allah did not write the Quran.

However it is very likely that this hadith (in which Muhammad gives this explanation) was forged and falsely attributed to Muhammad. It may be an attempt to whitewash Muhammad’s error.

And unfortunately, this blunder is repeated again in Chapter 66 Verse 12 of the Quran. Nowhere in the Quran are Mary and Mariam mentioned as different characters. It should have been made clear in the Quran that even though the word is the same in Arabic, Mary the Mother of Jesus lived more than 12 centuries after Mariam, the sister of Moses. Simple and clear! The Quran repeatedly claims to be a “clear book” (5:15) “easy to understand” (44:58 , 54:22 , 54:32, 54:40) “explained in detail” (6:114), “conveyed clearly”, (5:16, 10:15) and with “no doubt” in it (2:1). Isn’t it clear that it mistakes Mary for Moses’ sister Miriam?

For a more detailed study of this massive blunder of the Quran, open this link.

They seem to be even better than websites of former Muslims like www.faithfreedom.org or www.islam-watch.org in trying to prove that Islam is false. These sites, answering-islam and 1000mistakes.com are run by Christians who say “Christ is the way”. Some Muslims have tried to refute these sites and launched their own sites- like answering-christianity.com They point out mistakes in the Bible and try to refute errors in the Quran. For neutral observers, both are partly in the right and partly in the wrong. They are both right when they point out errors in the others religious book viz The Holy Bible and The Holy Quran. But their forcible defense in bending all rules of logic to forcibly explain the unexplainable, deny the undeniable and defend the indefensible errors in their own book are wrong. As a matter of fact, Hindu religious books too contain many errors, contradictions and mistakes and things which are not acceptable by today’s modern standards. But Hindus are free to reject such sentences in their religious books and follow modern civil laws, since Hinduism does not insist in blind belief without reason and blindly following a book accepting it as the “Word of God”. This freedom of thought of accepting or rejecting any or all of what is given is the beauty of Hinduism. And it is this free thinking, given in Hinduism (not in Islam and Christianity which insist on blind faith), which will liberate the world in the 21st century.

be a need to explain contradictions in a ‘clear book’? The best answer to show that the Quran must not be interpreted in any other way than its obvious meaning comes from the Quran itself. The Quran repeatedly claims to be a “clear book” (5:15) “easy to understand” (44:58 , 54:22 , 54:32, 54:40) “explained in detail” (6:114), “conveyed clearly”, (5:16, 10:15) and with “no doubt” in it (2:1).

Muslim explanation:These people were the first Muslims “of their community” not humanity. This explanation is completely wrong since nowhere is it mentioned in the Quran that they were the first Muslims of their community. “Of their community” is invented by some Muslims to explain a clear contradiction. It is also a heinous sin to alter the words of the Quran, which those who are trying to explain this are doing.

2. Verses 22:47 and 32:5 say that Allah’s day equal to 1,000 human years. But 70:4 says that it is equal to 50,000 years.

Muslim explanation: Chapter 70 Verse 4 says, “Angels and spirits ascend unto Allah in a single day the span of which is 50,000 years”. These are 50,000 years for angels and spirits, not human beings. An year for an angel or spirit may be different than one for a human being.

This explanation again puts words in the mouth of the author of the Quran since nowhere is it mentioned that the span is 50,000 years ‘for spirits and angels’. The Quran, which claims itself to be a clear book, with no confusion, would have explicitly mentioned that these 50,000 are years for spirits and angels, and not human beings. Since this verse was going to be read by humans, it is only certain that 50,000 years mean 50,000 human years unless explicitly mentioned. This is a clear contradiction, and if there is some explanation, God would have given that explanation in the book itself being aware that this is a strong case of being seen as a contradiction.

4. Verses 7:54, 10:3, 11:7, and 25:59 say the universe was created in six days while verses 41:9-12 say it was created in eight days. Then again in 2:117 we are told that “He [3rd person] saith to it: ‘Be,’ and it is”. These are three different versions of creation – six days, eight days and instantaneously.

5. 54:19 says Allah destroyed the people of Aad in a day. 41:16 says it was days (three or more) 69:7 specifies seven nights and eight days in succession.

Now there may not be a contradiction between 41:16 and 69:7 since more than three days can mean seven (though it should have been specified in 41:16 itself that there are 7 nights and 8 days) but there is a clear contradiction between 54:19 and 69:7.

Muslim explanation: 54:19 says “One day” which means the starting day, and continued for 7 days. But 54:19 does not mention ‘started’

“For We sent against them a furious wind, on a Day of violent Disaster Plucking out men as if they were roots of palm-trees torn up (from the ground). Yea, how (terrible) was My Penalty and My Warning!”. This verse nowhere mentions that furious wind lasted more than one day. It is clear that there was only one day of violent disaster from this verse. Hence this explanation is also wrong.

6. The food for the people in Hell will be only “Dhari” 88:6, only foul pus from the washing of wounds 69:36, or will they also get to eat from the tree of Zaqqum 37:62-66?

Muslim explanation: Here, someone tries to explain the unexplainable by saying that God is simply saying that food in Hell will be horrible and that God uses different words for the same thing. This is a clear contradiction-foul pus is different from Dhari and tree of Zaqqum is also different. Nowhere is it said in the Quran that Dhari is same as pus and Zaqqum’s fruits. Forcible explanations to explain the unexplainable are all wrong.

7. Who takes the souls at death: The Angel of Death 32:11, THE angels (plural) 47:27 or Allah39:42?

9. At the Day of Judgment, people are divided into three groups 56:7 or two groups 90:18-19, 99:6-8?

10. 21:30 says “heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before We [1st person] clove them asunder?” But 41:11 says “Then He [3rd person] directed Himself to the heaven and it is a vapor, so He said to it and to the earth: Come both, willingly or unwillingly. They both said: We come willingly.” So were the heaven and earth joined originally and Allah separated them or where they separated and Allah joined them? There is a contradiction.

The above verse also assumes that heaven and earth have wills of their own and can obey or disobey God’s orders. This is good for children’s story but it is not science.